


The Immortals

by Josephi



Category: For Honor (Video Game), RWBY
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:00:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24432484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josephi/pseuds/Josephi
Summary: When you hear the word "immortality", you think of the inability to die of natural causes and long lifespans. That is not true immortality. Four powerful warriors are gifted with true immortality, along with a few other gifts, and sent to Remnant right as it is first formed, left to wander this strange now world with their new gifts.
Kudos: 8





	1. Valhalla

_**The War of the Ages. The war that has lasted hundreds of years and shall last hundreds more. A war of warriors. A war of cowards. A war of glory. A war of honor. A war that has given rise to many mighty men and women, and feld many more. But a select few stood out from the rest. A Knight of Ashfeld, labeled worthy for holding an entire Castle with nothing more than his armor and weapon against a horde of enemies. A Viking of Valkenheim, labeled worthy for slaying the mighty Jormungandr. And a Samurai of the Mire, labeled worthy for hunting the Oni to extinction.** _

_**Each and every one selected by a cosmic force to partake in a never ending adventure. Each to be thrust to another world and conquer it as their own. To rule it from its beginning to its end. But a fourth was sent as well, a man, nay, a demon in human form, who has committed unspeakable evils and had been sentenced to death. A man so evil the three warriors banded together and imprisoned him in an iron coffin, guarded so as to never be released again.** _

_**And after years of fighting each other, they grew tired. Tired of a battle that would never end. And so, to never again run the risk of a war like the one from their home, the Viking cut himself off from the world, never again leaving his home for any reason. The Samurai made his home atop the highest peak in all of Remnant, as the mortals had begun calling it, and began training those he deemed worthy of his tutelage. And the Knight guarded the tomb of the Demon, leaving only to pass judgement on those power hungry leaders who would risk another hundred year war.** _

_**What was once seen as a blessing was now a curse. Unable to die, the Knight was forced into an eternity of servitude as the Demon's warden, the Viking unable to enter Valhalla with the other great warriors, and the Samurai unable to find inner peace. And so they remain, until the life of the world comes to an end.** _

Beacon had fallen. The Grimm and White Fang had overrun the Academy along with the surrounding city. And Ozpin had perished like so many others. Another digit for the history books. But it was not entirely in vain, as he had a backup plan, as he always did. For should Beacon fall, which it undoubtedly had, he had sent automated instructions to those within his inner circle. Seek out these three powerful warriors. Connected to the messages were coordinates for each of them. The orders didn't go into specifics. After meeting and conversing, they agreed on who would go where.

After healing their wounds, or as much as one can heal after losing a limb and a friend, they agreed that RWBY would seek out this Viking who resided deep in the Atlesian wilderness, isolated from all civilization. What was left of JNPR would visit Menagerie to speak with this Samurai who lived atop the Mountain of Souls. And Qrow, being the most experienced fighter among them, would visit the Knight alone. And so they set about on their quest, to request aid from the warriors, and hope they could destroy Salem.

RWBY had just touched down and exited the Bullhead, deep in the forest that covered Atlas. They had volunteered to seek out the Viking, Forn was his name, and ask, no, beg, that he help them in their war against Salem. Yang was still getting used to her new arm, so the others were doing more of the fighting when they came across Grimm. Then they came across the first hint of people. Chopped down trees. They continued further in, coming across more and more tree stumps, until they found a log cabin in a clearing. There was no smoke coming from the chimney, so there likely wasn't anyone home.

"Should we go inside?" Blake asked, wanting to see if their potential ally had left any clue as to where he had gone.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Ruby began. She didn't want to anger this man, and risk ruining any chance they had of making him an ally. But Yang, ever the voice of reason, decided to enter anyway. She went up to the door and knocked on it hard with her prosthetic, causing the wood to splinter, but the door held firm.

"HELLO?!" She yelled, hoping he would just be inside. There was no response. She opened the door, as there was no lock, and went inside, as did the others, though Rose did so reluctantly. They looked around. There was some basic furniture, some chairs in front of the fireplace, which was cold, a table with chairs, probably for eating, and a furnace for cooking food at the back. There were two other rooms, one was locked, the only one to even have one, and a bedroom with a large bed and, oddly enough, no windows. But none of that was what caught their eye. What interested them was the fact that the walls were covered in furs, pelts, horns and antlers, all kinds of hunting trophies. And over the fire mantle was the mounted head of a truly massive bear. It was bigger than Ruby herself.

"How did he manage to kill this? I don't see any weapons here." Weiss asked, inspecting the trophy further. It was very intimidating.

"Maybe he-" Blake started.

"I killed it with my bare hands." They heard a voice at the front door. The girls whirled around and saw a beast of a man standing in the doorway. His skin was white as snow, his eyes blue as ice, and he looked bigger than Yatsuhashi. He was bald, his brown beard reaching past his chest was braided, with an iron ring holding it so. He was wearing nothing but a pair of pants and shoes, showing off his huge muscles. The girls had to fight to maintain eye contact. He had a log under his arm and a simple ax propped on his shoulder, but he looked ready to use it on them. He had an angry look in his eyes.

"Tell me why you are here or none of you will be leaving." He spoke in a deep voice filled with barely controlled rage. He did not care if they were young. If they did not explain themselves he would end them now. He saw the locked door had remained closed. He didn't have to kill them since they didn't see, but if they were thieves, they would die.

"W-we were sent be our headmaster, Professor Ozpin, to find you after Beacon fell, and ask if you would help us." Ruby tried defusing the situation. Forn's anger was replaced by curiosity.

"Ozpin? Is that what he calls himself these days?" Forn asked, relaxing a little, but still angry at them for intruding on his home. "How is the man these days? Headmaster of a Hunter School I assume?"

"He's dead." Blake said somberly. To their shock and irritation, he just laughed.

"Oh, I can guarantee you he's not dead." He went inside, pushing past the girls, and tossing the log into the fireplace. "But you said you needed me to help you with something. It's a no, but let me hear it. Maybe you can tug at my heartstrings enough to gain my sympathy." He grabbed a stone and began striking it with the ax, trying to light the log.

"We need your help in a war." Ruby said. Forn paused, before striking the stone one final time, lighting a fire. He stood up and looked at them.

"What kind of war?" He asked with a strange seriousness.

"We need help with the Grimm." Yang said with determination. Forn stared at them with a deadpan expression before bursting out laughing. He almost keeled over.

"You… you came to me, because you can't do your jobs?" He started laughing harder, having to sit down. Yang was angry now. He had just laughed in their faces to their plea for help.

"Who do you think you are?! We didn't go through almost the entire forest just to get laughed off. So how about we help you, or I punch you through the wall, no matter how powerful Ozpin thought you were!" Forn stopped laughing and stood up, standing right up to her, showing their significant size difference.

"No. I will not help in your pitiful war. That is not my job, that is your job. Now leave me be." He said sternly. Yang had had enough, and went to punch him in the face with her iron fist. He caught it with ease, and began to squeeze, warping the metal. He glared at her with barely concealed anger.

"You break into MY home, poke around through MY things, demand ME to partake in your pathetic war, then try to fight me when I say no? I will say this once more." He'd almost completely crushed the metal by this point.

"Leave. My. Home. Or I will tear your other arm off and hang you from a tree with your tendons." He grabbed her other arm and started squeezing that as well, her Aura already starting to give under his immense strength. She started desperately trying to get away from him, but his grip was like iron.

"Alright!" Ruby yelled, not wanting to see her sister lose her other arm. "We're sorry for bo-"

"Wait." Blake spoke up.

"What?" Forn said impatiently.

"I hear something." She looked outside and saw a Bullhead on the horizon.

"That's strange, there aren't supposed to be any Atlas soldiers helping us with this." Weiss said, suspicious.

"That's because they aren't Atlas." Blake thought they were White Fang.

"Stay outside." Forn said, turning towards the locked door.

"But-"

"Do. It." He ordered them. They reluctantly went outside and watched as the Bullhead drew closer. After a few minutes, it touched down, and a dozen White Fang exited, all with mechashift weapons. They were former Hunters.

"Surrender and we'll make your deaths quick." The biggest one threatened. RWBY couldn't stand against them, not alone. They got ready to fight, when the door behind them opened, and out walked Forn with his gear. He wore a pair of black pants with yellow vertical stripes and leather boots, with a skirt made of leather scales with a metal stud in each one. Though he was still largely bare chested, he had a leather strap over his chest, a leather pauldron with metal studs embedded in it on his left shoulder, along with leather armour along his arm. He had a silver pelt draped over his right shoulder. And he had a metal helmet with gold highlights. But what struck them was the real skull with metal plating being used as a faceplate. It imposed a terrifying presence on the White Fang.

He had his two hands gripped on a large Dane Ax. The shaft was gold with blue and red patterns throughout. The pommel was a metal spike with gold highlights. And the head had the head of a snake with its mouth open in a silent roar, with a large blade sprouting from it. It looked extremely sharp and lethal.

"And who's this guy? A human hermit living in the middle of the woods?" The leader laughed, though the others laughed nervously. There was something about him.

"I'll give you one warning. Leave my home, or I will kill you." Forn staighted. It didn't sound like a threat, it sounded like a fact.

The leader snickered in amusement, before unsheathing a wicked looking katana from his back. He then charged at Forn with lightning speed, aiming to skewer him. When the blade impacted Thorn's chest, nothing happened. The blade wouldn't pierce the skin, no matter how hard he psyched. He was so shocked, he didn't notice the ax that was descending down on him. When it struck, it hit with such force it shattered his Aura without trouble and lodged itself in his shoulder. He began to scream in pain before Forn pulled out his blade and slammed the pommel into the leader's face, shattering his mask and his nose. As he was writhing on the ground, Forn brought his weapon down on his gut, reducing the leader's cries of pain to choked gurgles, before ripping his ax out, ending his life. He picked up the dead Faunus's weapon, examined it, then tossed it to the side. He turned his attention to the other WF.

"Valhalla!" He bellowed before charging them with no hesitation. The others charged him in return, intent on claiming revenge for their fallen comrade. Said comrade seemed to be the only one with Aura, however, as the others fell easily. The first had his head taken off by a vicious swing, his body stumbling for a moment before collapsing. The second took the ax to the chest, Forn spinning him around before launching him into a group of Faunus. The rest were slaughtered like the animals they were, they're blows not even fazing him. The pilot saw that they weren't going to win, and so opted to run away like a coward. Forn wasn't having any of that.

After ripping his ax from the head of one of his enemies, he quickly started running to the bullhead. He embedded his ax into the side to ensure he wouldn't fall, and ripped the door open. He kicked the door to the cockpit off its hinges before grabbing the pilot and throwing him out the windshield, causing the aircraft to crash, with him inside. RWBY thought he had died, but were shocked to see him tear his way out of the wreckage, not a scratch on him, ignoring the scars that were already on him. He immediately went and inspected one of the bodies.

"Who were these people?" He asked them without turning around.

"T-they were White Fang." Blake answered, horrified by what she just witnessed. "You didn't have to kill them." She said, growing a little angry. Sure they were bad, but they didn't deserve to die. They could've just subdued them and turned them over to the authorities.

"They invaded my home and threatened me. Be glad I made their deaths as fast as I did."

As he said this, he noticed one of the Faunus that hadn't died trying to crawl away. She was missing a leg. Ruby noticed as well, and quickly blocked Forn's path to her.

"Stop." She said sternly. He just grumbled annoyed and pushed her aside. He rolled the Faunus girl onto her back before picking her up by her neck. He then pinned her against a tree and held his ax against her throat. He sliced her mask off without hurting her. She grasped at his arm with one hand while staring at him with intense fear in her eyes.

"Who sent you here and where are they?" Forn interrogated. She responded by spitting on his mask, a mixture of blood and saliva. He responded by slicing her other leg off, causing her to scream in pain.

"You have two more limbs, you want to use them as well?"

"Ok, ok!" She pleaded. "His name is Adam Taurus. I don't know where he is but I have the coordinates to the base we came from in my pocket."

True to her word, in her left pocket was was a note the coordinates, along with a map with a message.

"In case you dumbasses get lost." He read aloud, snickering to himself.

"You'll let me go now, right?" She begged.

He cut her throat after she said that. He read the coordinates, glad that he had taken Ozma's offer to teach him how to read them. He realized it was very close to a relatively nearby village. He ignored the girls asking him why he killed the woman, and started walking towards the base. None would survive, and he would find whoever this "Adam Taurus" was, and he would hang him from the Yggdrasil himself.


	2. The Harvester

It was eerily quiet as team JNR travelled to the village at the base of the Mountain of Souls known as Mire. There wasn't a sound to be heard for miles. They hadn't really spoken to each other either, opting to travel in silence. They hadn't been able to contact RWBY or Qrow, so they didn't know if they were successful in their endeavours. They finally reached the village, and there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. It was a fair sized village, bordering on a town, with quite a few houses and a few less shops. People were walking around, going about their daily routines. Everything seemed perfectly normal. All except for the large building near the path leading up the mountain. When they got closer, they saw a sign that had a message written in a strange language they'd never seen before. Jaune approached one of the citizens, a tall, bald man cleaning up his stall.

"Hey, what's that building for, and what's the sign say?"

The man just snickered to himself. "New here, ey? That's the Hall of the Unworthy. Wanna know anything else, ask its current caretaker, Ryo. He's right over there." He pointed to an old man that was walking, with the help of his cane, towards the Hall.

"Excuse me, sir?" Ren approached Ryo. He stopped and gave his attention to them, smiling.

"Ah, visitors." He greeted. "We rarely ever get those, and even then, they never stay long. How can I help you young man?"

"We were wondering what that building over there is for. The man over there," he indicated to the man at the stall. "said it was called the Hall of the Unworthy.

His smile vanished after that. "Oh, that. Yes, that is what we call it, though nobody knows its true name. Before I tell you what it is for, are you aware of the legend of the Soul Harvester?" None of the teens spoke up.

"I thought so. No worries. Hardly anybody outside Mire knows it." As he began retelling the story, he continued walking to the Hall. "It speaks of something that resides atop the Mountain of Souls. Nobody knows what it is, but nobody can doubt its legitimacy. Whenever someone ventures to the top, the Soul Harvester judges them, determining if they are worthy of his aid, and he takes the souls of those he deems unworthy as payment for bothering him."

"What do you mean nobody can deny the legend is true?" Ren pressed for information.

The old man had a solemn look on his face, before opening the doors to the Hall, and allowing them inside. They were shocked by what they saw. The walls were covered in hundreds upon hundreds of small wooden masks, each one wholly unique. And each mask had a name etched into the forehead.

"Whenever an unworthy person's soul is taken, a mask representing them appears at the beginning of the mountain. When that happens, the caretaker of time will collect the mask and add them to the walls, further expanding the collection. It is a rare occurrence for someone to be deemed worthy, and those that do return from the summit unharmed and with a gift, though they never say what they saw. They only say that they have been sworn into secrecy, and must never speak of what happened."

"Well, why haven't you asked the kingdoms for help and figure out what's up there?" Nora suggested.

"Why do you think there are so many masks?" He answered, slightly annoyed. Her eyes widened, and she looked down dejectedly. Ryo sighed. "I apologize, I am not in the best of moods. My son recently ventured to the peak after his mother passed, and his mask appeared yesterday." He looked very sad.

"Don't worry sir, we're going to the top, and we'll figure out what happened to him." Jaune offered.

"I know that you plan to make the trek, people rarely come for other reasons, and I know what fate has befallen my boy, but I have one request."

"What's that?" Nora asked.

"Send only one of you up there, the other two should stay here. It will ensure not all of you die."

Jaune immediately spoke up. "I'll go."

"What?! No!" Nora immediately objected. "If all three of us go and he tries to take our souls of whatever, we can easily fight him off." She said with confidence.

"Nora, did you not listen to what Ryo said? The kingdoms have sent armies to confront the Soul Harvester, and not one of them ever returned. Do you really think just us three could defeat him?" Ren reasoned. Nora tried to argue more, but Jaune put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine." He reassured. "I'll be back before you know it."

"Ok." She relented, looking even more dejected than before.

After a few hours of preparation, Jaune said goodbye to his teammates and began the journey to the top.

**One hour later**

Jaune was almost to the top. The climb wasn't that bad, since the path was clearly defined and relatively easy to follow, it was just long. But what was strange was that he never saw any sign of life, whether it be man, animal, or even Grimm. It was like the mountain was devoid of the souls it was named after. It had also become foggier and foggier the closer he got to the top. This answered his question for why they didn't fly a Bullhead up here. He could still see a little well, but it would be impossible for anything outside the fog to see in.

The path had evened out and he started walking in a straight line for the first time since he started the climb. At the same time, he started to feel like he was being watched, scrutinized, judged. Eventually the fog started to clear, and he saw a strange building. It looked like a dojo, but had clearly been neglected for a very long time. The red paint had almost completely peeled off, vines and vegetation were covering most of the structure, and it looked like nobody had even stepped inside in ages. As he got closer, a feeling of dread washed over him, like he shouldn't be there.

"What have you come here for?" A voice spoke to his right. It was a loud, harsh whisper. He quickly spun and faced the voice, drawing Crocea Mors, unfolding his shield and getting into a combat stance. He looked up and saw who had spoken. He was perched on a tree branch, crouching and staring at him.

He was wearing a pair of sandals with wooden shin plates on his legs. Above that, he had standards around his waist, light blue with golden clouds and studs throughout. He also had a thick rope for a belt, with two wooden masks attached, one was black and seemed happy and content, while the other was a yellowy white and full of rage. He had a cloth vest with his chest exposed, an intricate dragon tattoo visible. He also had a rope harness, though the purpose for it wasn't very clear. On his arms, he had wooden guards for his lower and upper arms. But what really stood out was his headwear. It was a black sack with two eye holes cut out and strange symbols painted on the face. The symbols resembled the ones on the sign at the Hall of the Unworthy.

He wielded a large double-sided ax propped on his shoulder. It was largely turquoise, with some shade differences throughout. It was also covered in ornamental snakes. There was one wrapped around the handle, four more on the blades, two for each, and the head of another on the top, reared back and ready to strike.

"Are you the Soul Harvester?" Jaune asked, unable to hide his fear. This man had destroyed armies.

"Indeed. I assume you have come to request aid of some sort?" He said, hopping down and landing on the ground with a heavy _thud_.

"Ozpin needs your help. WE, need your help. Beacon has fallen and-"

"So you are not here of your own volition, but because Ozma sent you like the pawns he sees both you and the rest of his allies. I care not for his shadow war, but if you prove yourself worthy, I will aid you."

"What do I have to do?"

The Soul Harvester placed a hand on the ground, and a dark purple portal appeared.

"You must face your demons."

A figure suddenly burst from the portal, flying high a landing with a crouch. When it rose, he recognized her. She was dark purple with wisps of black flowing throughout, and her eyes glowed yello. But her weapons and armor made no mistake of her identity.

"P-Pyrrha?" He loosened his grip on his weapons and walked towards her, tears in his eyes. "I thought you were dea-" She kicked him back with a bone cracking kick to the chest.

"You left me to die!" She shouted with anger, her voice slightly distorted. Now he was even more confused. He hadn't wanted to leave her, but she ran off and sacrificed herself. There was nothing he could do. But he was not thinking logically, his mind clouded by emotion.

"I didn't want to leave you, please!" he shouted, desperately. She shouted with rage and charged him. It may have been Pyrrha, but whatever this was it didn't use her fighting style. It swung its weapon at him haphazardly, letting its rage guide it. He looked to the Soul Harvester, but he was watching with casual interest, not intending to help him. He went to stab her, hoping she would dodge and back off a little. But it didn't. The blade struck true, and it went right through her. It shocked him, expecting her to at least have Aura. But there was none.

She dropped her weapon and shield and clutched his arm, breathing ragged. She fell back and off his blade, but there was no blood. Instead, she began to dissolve like a Grimm, but much faster. Before he could do anything, she had dissolved completely. He was heart broken. He had a feeling it wasn't actually her, but it did little to stop the pain. He had just killed his friend.

The sound of clapping resonated behind him. He turned around, and the Soul Harvester had stuck his ax into the ground and was slowly clapping at his victory.

"Congratulations, you have proven yourself worthy of my aid. Though, truth be told, I went easy on you. I merely wish for a reason to leave. What do you require?"

Before he could answer, he heard a series of footsteps behind him. He turned around, and there were about two dozen White Fang, all pointing guns at them. Jaune got into a combat position, but the Soul Harvester just stood there, holding his ax with the blades resting on the ground.

"Who are you to intrude on my home?"

"That doesn't concern you, human. Now surrender yourselves to us and we won't have to kill you."

The Soul Harvester began to slowly walk towards them.

"Wretched warriors. Nothing more than flesh and bones." The Faunus tensed. "You no longer need to suffer, I offer you peace and salvation." His tattoo began to glow deep purple, and he stopped approaching. "Be not afraid." Hundreds of portals appeared on the ground, surrounding the terrorists. "Your souls are now mine!" He slams his ax into the ground and out of each portal a random person claws their way out and began to slaughter the White Fang with whatever weapons they had. To Jaune, it was just a horde of spirits, but to the White Fang, it was the souls of the innocents they slaughtered, summoned to enact retribution.

The White Fang were terrified and many of them dropped their weapons and tried to run. A few tried to fight, but their bullets passed right through the screaming ghosts. Some Faunus were outright killed, while the unlucky ones were dragged into the portals from whence they came. When the fighting came to an end, all the White Fang were dead, and the spirits looked to the Harvester expectantly.

"Your deaths have been avenged, you may now rest peacefully." With those words, the spirits smiled and dissipated. Jaune was shocked by all of this. He knew the Soul Harvester was powerful, but to be able to summon the souls of the dead? It made him shiver, and he was glad he wanted to help Jaune already. He was shocked out of his stupor by the Soul Harvester addressing him.

"You may call me Yato, it was the name I used before becoming the Soul Harvester." Yato told him. "Now, what were you about to say?" He asked, once again in a relaxed posture.

"I need your help to fight the Grimm, Beacon's fallen and Professor Ozpin is dead. We _need_ your help."

"That is not a request I can do. I swore to never interfere with the war between light and dark." Jaune wasn't expecting that, but he wasn't surprised. If he did interfere, the Grimm probably wouldn't be here. Jaune sighed and asked him the second most important thing.

"I want you to kill Cinder Fall." He spoke with determination.

"Ah yes, the woman with the glowing dress. There are many souls that have died by her hands, and she shall answer to every last one of them."


	3. Deus Vult

Qrow had been wandering the town, Ashfeld, for a day, and he had a pretty good idea of who this "Knight" was. The town was nothing special at first glance, the most important part of it being that it was a full on town and not just a small village. They really knew how to defend themselves on their own. However, the most eye catching part of the town was the large church in the middle of the town square. It wasn't all that fancy looking, it had a bell tower on top, a set of large doors that were always open, and a man that was the definition of "gentle giant" tending to it.

He looked to be 7 and a half feet tall, and always wore casual clothing. He had shoulder length blonde hair, along with some stubble. His name was William, and he seemed to be a priest. That was odd, since religion wasn't really a thing on Remnant. But he seemed to worship someone named "God". No fancy name or anything, just simply God. He was also really kind, and when asked about him, pretty much everyone had good things to say, though when pushed, they said he was a retired Huntsman. He was told the man's Semblance was that he couldn't age past what he was at right now. Nobody knew how old he really was, but they had a feeling that he might have been as old as the town itself, if not older.

After getting some information on him, he decided to approach him. The church was always open, apparently, so he could just walk right in without issue. He entered the church, and looked around. The walls were covered in large windows with glass art instead of regular windows. They portrayed various religious figures, though he didn't recognize any of them. There were pews leading up to the front, which had a small stage with and large red rug covering it and a giant stone cross against the wall. He also saw William sweeping between the pews. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a bright blue T-shirt, along with a necklace with a golden cross on it. Their eyes met, and he smiled.

"Hello there, friend." He greeted. His voice was deep, but filled with kindness. "I don't believe we've met before, you must be new to Ashfeld." He stopped what he was doing and rested his arm on top of the broom. "The sermon doesn't start for another hour, but you're welcome to stay regardless."

"No, that's fine. I just wanted to talk to you." Qrow approached the large man.

"What about? If it's about my previous work as a Huntsman, I'm afraid I don't do that sort of thing anymore. I prefer to stay here." He chuckled.

"No, not anything like that. It's about Beacon." Qrow said, gaining a more serious tone.

"The Academy in Vale? Why? Did something happen? We don't get much news out here, so we're in the dark about most things."

Qrow sighed before revealing the truth. "Beacon's fallen. It was taken by the Grimm." William's eyes went wide and he dropped the broom. He sat down in one of the pews and put his head in his hands. He sat like that for a few seconds before responding.

"So this is why he sent you here." He said quietly, raising his head and looking at the stone cross

Qrow raised an eyebrow in confusion. "How'd you know?"

"Has Ozpin told you what my powers are?"

"No, all he said was that you're powerful." William chuckled again at this, but much more somberly.

"Of course he didn't tell you before sending you." He stood up and dusted off his hands.

"As I'm sure you already know, my name is William. I am one of the three Immortals, alongside my brothers-in-arms, Forn and Yato. None of us can die by any means known to us." The bombshell of information stunned Qrow. These three guys couldn't die? That explains why Ozpin's last message was asking them to seek them out and ask for help. William continued. "We each also have special abilities that you could call Semblances. Forn can transform into a werewolf, though he rarely does so as the transformation is quite painful. Yato can summon the dead, but he only does so to put the souls to rest. And I can see into the hearts of men, and learn their true intentions. It was how I knew why you were here."

"And just how old are you people?" Qrow asked, dumbfounded by all this.

"We are as old as Remnant, older, in fact. My God chose me to go to this new world and spread His holy word. And so I have, hidden away in this little town."

Now he was confused. "Wait, older? How can you be older than Remnant? That's impossible."

"It's true. We hailed from a world split apart by constant war. The Knights, the Samurai, and the Vikings all vied for control of the world. And with no common enemy to unite them against, there was a war that had already lasted thousands of years before I was even born. When we came here, Forn isolated himself deep within the northern forest, Yato made his home atop what you now call the Mountain of Souls, and I swore to never allow another war between men to occur. The Great War was the result of me not wanting to leave Ashfeld defenceless."

"So you're telling me that you and your buddies have all this power, and not once did any of you ever go to confront Salem?!" Qrow was angry at this man for allowing thousands of people to die despite him saying himself that he would try to stop conflict. This question irritated William.

"Letting the Grimm live is a necessary evil. Without a common enemy to unite them, mankind will fight itself. I have seen it, I have experienced it, and I intend to never allow it to happen again. And if letting Salem live is the price I have to pay, then so be it."

"Everyday hundreds of people all over Remnant die because of the Grimm, and you're just gonna let it happen!?"

"And thousands more will surely perish because of humanity's insatiable lust for war!" He shouted, angry now. "You have been blinded by peace, and you fail to see the threat mankind poses to itself! If I kill Salem, what is there to stop war from breaking out?! I am meant to keep the balance so to ensure another thousand year war does not happen again. Now if you have nothing else to say, I would recommend you leave."

Right as Qrow was about to leave, there was an explosion at the front gate. They both rushed out and were met with three dozen White Fang attacking the town. Qrow was about to go and fight, but then William held him back.

"I will handle this." His voice seethed with rage.

As he walked over to the battle, he held a hand in the air, and he began to glow a slight gold. Then there was a flash that only Qrow seemed to notice, and William was in a large suit of golden armor. His legs were covered in metal shin guards and heavy boots, along with knee protection. He had a thick leather belt with a ring of chainmail around his thighs. His arms had thick metal gauntlets with metal plates layered over his upper arms and pauldrons on his shoulders. He had layered metal plates covering his chest with large studs lining them. His helmet covered his entire head, and the eye holes had tear-like patterns carved out. And draped over his back was a large cape with a red cross and white background sewn into the fabric.

He then held up his other hand, and a large halberd appeared. It was gold with silver highlights, and the ax and spear parts, and even the counter weight to the ax head all looked extremely sharp and deadly. It also had a large red gem embedded between the ax head and the counter weight. He rested the large weapon on his shoulder, and began walking towards the terrorists, who had started rounding up civilians.

One of the White Fang, armed with a sword, charged him. He swiftly disarmed him by grabbing the blade, yanking it free and throwing it away. The Faunus responded by going to throw a punch, but William moved his halberd and made him punch the ax head, cutting his hand to the wrist. The Faunus clutched his arm and screamed in pain, then William pulled back, the Faunus's bones breaking with loud snaps, then stabbed him in the head with the spike. He threw him to the ground and stood facing the rest of the attackers, who were now aiming their weapons at him. Some people had already been killed by the terrorists, and this only increased William's fury.

"Pray that God have mercy on your souls, for you shall receive none from me!" He yelled before charging them. The others started shooting at him, but the bullets pinged off his armor with leaving so much as a mark. When he reached the first enemy, he impaled them with the spike, then kept running with the dying man. He arrived at a group and stopped, throwing the corpse into the group. The rest of the battle was bloody and brutal, with limbs flying and the screams of the judged being heard throughout Ashfeld as they desperately tried to fight this man off. At one point he even broke a man's neck with one hand. By the end, there was only one soldier left. The commander of the attack. He was on the ground, trying to crawl away while holding his stomach. As William started walking towards him, he pulled out a whetstone and started sharpening his ax.

"Animam tuam iudicatus est." He spoke in an unknown language as he thundered over to the crying man. When he got close, he kicked the man back down on his stomach. He didn't get back up, he didn't have the strength. As he lay there, William raised his halberd.

"Tu dignatus est reus!" He roared as he brought the weapon down on his neck, beheading him executioner style and embedding the blade in the dirt. He ripped it out and stood there, observing the carnage. It was a mixture of White Fang and civilians. By the end of this, Qrow was perched on top of one of the buildings, impressed but not surprised by the outcome. Then there was a loud crosh from within the church. William's head snapped to it, and he began sprinting to investigate, Qrow joining him. When they got inside, one of the large windows had been smashed, glass all over the floor. But William's eyes locked onto something on the other side of the room.

In the far right corner of the stage, the rug had been tossed aside, and a hidden trapdoor's open door was laid bare. William's eyes widened and he ran to the entrance, banishing his equipment in the process. He ignored the ladder and jumped down, Qrow following close behind. When they landed, they found themselves in a large circular room, the layers of dust evidence that the room hadn't been used in a long time. But what stood out was the angled pedestal in the center of the room, illuminated by a single ceiling light.

"No." William spoke with a shocked tone. "The fools, what have they done?"

"What did they take?" Qrow asked.

"They have no idea what they have done." He didn't seem to hear him.

"William!" Qrow shouted, bringing him out of his stupor.

"They have intruded on a tomb containing a great evil that would put Salem to shame. They are in possession of thousands of years of pent up anger and hatred, and are about to unleash it on Remnant. They have stolen the coffin of Mors." He looked down, and saw the footsteps in the dust that could only belong to a group, and William knew what the purpose of the attack on Ashfeld was. It was merely a distraction. William turned around and climbed out of the room, ignoring Qrow's attempts to talk to him. He was going to speak to Sienna Khan, and attempt to contain this. He never confronted her before because they were never a threat to war breaking out between kingdoms, but this was a crime that could not go unpunished. She would rue the day she angered William Ignis, the Lawbringer of Remnant.


	4. Unchained

Somewhere deep in the Emerald Forest, there was a hidden White Fang base, the location only known by the higher-ups and the people that worked there. It didn't see much action, it was primarily built to be used as a safehouse should one of said higher-ups' life be in danger. But right now, it was home to a very dangerous being, but the faunus didn't know that.

Bruce was one such Faunus, tasked with trying to open the large metal coffin they had stolen from that retired Huntsman. So far they hadn't had any luck, nothing they had could even scratch whatever it was made of. But there were some people coming down to take it from them and move it somewhere more secure. As Bruce was using a power saw to try and cut the lock securing the thick chains holding the upright coffin closed, he heard the door open. He turned around and saw two people walk in.

One was a short woman wearing strange armor. On her legs were knee high boots with shin guards. On her torso was a robe that only reached her thighs. On her left shoulder was a leather shoulder guard that looked more cosmetic than practical. On her right one was a metal shoulder guard covered in spikes. On each forearm was a leather armguard covered in metal studs. Her entire head was hidden behind a hood and metal mask. The mask being gray steel with three V cuts for sight. She had a short sword sheathed at her left hip, but he couldn't see past the black and gold handle. Though it did have a purple gem attached to the bottom of the hilt, signifying some kind of wealth.

But where the woman was clearly skilled in stealth, the brute of a man next to her was the complete opposite. He was huge. He had heavy boots with black metal knee guards. Cloth was draped over his entire torso, stopping anyone from seeing what he was wearing underneath. His shoulders were protected by black guards covered in large spikes, much bigger than the woman's. On his head was a simple black metal helmet, but there was also a black steel muzzle over his face, secured by leather straps. On his right arm was a large triangle shield with a dragon skull embedded in the metal. And in his left hand he wielded a flail, the handle gold and the mall covered haphazardly in spikes with a chain connecting them.

"Who the fuck are you guys?" He asked aggressively. He was the only person in the room besides the other two, so he felt on edge.

"We're here for the contents of the coffin." The woman spoke, her voice surprisingly clear despite the mask. The man remained silent, only staring at him.

"Well, you certainly match the description we were given." He turned around to pick up the saw. "How do you plan on lugging this thing out of here? You guys need a truck?"

"No thank you, we will not be taking the coffin with us." Before he could ask what they meant, something hard and heavy lodged itself in his skull, caving it in. Tacet yanked his flail out of the man's skull, blood and brain matter covering it.

"Open it." Mercy ordered. Without a sound, he pulled a key out of his back pouch and inserted it in the lock. He turned it slowly, hearing the inner mechanisms clicking. Eventually, with one final click, the lock opened and the chains fell away. He grabbed the sides of the lid and threw it to the side. Inside, his master stood, arms crossed over his chest, head bowed, his sword and shield at his side. His head rose and his arms dropped to his sides. He picked up his equipment, and strode forth. Tacet and Mercy kneeled before their master.

His boots thundered against the concrete floor, a cloth much like Tacet's draped over his body. His hood and black skull mask struck a terrifying visage. His sword was long and lined with short "teeth", with a skull embroidered on the guard. His massive kite shield was covered in intricate silver carvings, a massive skull in the center, and the sides were covered in small jagged blades. He stood before his minions, his presence almost overpowering them. For he was Mors, King of Darkness.

"You have done well, my children." He spoke in a deathly whisper. "Mercy, come forth." The woman in question obeyed, rising to her feet and standing before him. He removed her mask, revealing her young and beautiful face.

"You both look exactly the same as when I was imprisoned by the wretch, Ignis."

"Your gift has benefitted us greatly, father." She spoke with nervousness.

"You took an awfully long time freeing me." Mercy was quick to defend her and her brother, who remained kneeling.

"We couldn't fight Ignis, he was too powerful, we were forced to work with these mortals and be subject to their arroga-" She was cut off when he placed a finger on her lips. It was as cold as the grave. She looked him in the eyes, but saw nothing but dark pits from the mask.

"I am not disappointed in you. I am glad you knew he was superior to you, though I am curious as to why you chose to work with these degenerates." He spat the last word with disdain as he observed the dead Faunus.

"We had no other options, father. It was either work with them or attempt to free you by ourselves." He looked to Tacet, still kneeling in silence.

"Rise, my son. We have someone I would like to visit." As Mercy opened the door for them, it was revealed that all the other White Fang had been slaughtered in various ways. Some with their throats cut, some with their skulls caved in, and even more that had been beheaded. As they walked through the now silent base, Mors basked in the death. It felt so good to be free of that infernal tomb. He would do the same to Ignis when he found him. When they opened the door to the roof, there was still a Faunus alive. He was sitting against one of the air vents and was nursing a stab wound to his abdomen.

"I thought I'd killed you." Mercy spoke with disgust as she unsheathed her hidden dagger. She was stopped when her father put a hand on her shoulder. He passed her, walking slowly to the dying man.

"You fucking humans, you always fuck everything up. When Adam hears about this he'll-" He was cut off when Mors placed both hands on the sides of his face and lifted him to eye level with barely any effort.

"You are mistaken, my boy, for I am far from human." Then the man started shaking violently while screaming in pain. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he started shriveling like a prune. Mors dropped the dead man, looking more like a dug up mummy, two black handprints on the sides of his face. Mors was in euphoria after eating the first soul in millenia. He was snapped out of his state by the flapping of wings. He looked to the sky and saw a great Nevermore circling above them, before diving down and landing on the roof with a hard thump.

Mors approached the great bird and stroked it's beak, it giving quiet squeaks of happiness.

"It is good to see a creature of darkness once again. Come, I must not keep my queen waiting, for she has much to explain." As they mounted the giant bird and took off into the sky, Mors basked in the glory of freedom. He would regain control of his dark minions, and Remnant would once again fear his name. And his children would be by his side, forever loyal to him.

**Atlas, from the perspective of a very angry Viking**

Forn approached the White Fang outpost with the intent to burn it to the ground. The gaggle of girls continued to follow him, trying to convince him to stop and calm down. But he didn't listen. They should consider themselves lucky he didn't kill them as well, since they were the ones that lead this assholes to his home. As he neared the front gate, some of the White Fang spotted him. One of the snipers chuckled and went to put a bullet between his eyes. He was shocked when the bullet didn't even make him recoil. Forn gave a war cry before charging the gate, using his immense strength to shoulder bash it open.

It was a surprisingly small outpost, only housing a dozen or so Faunus. The first of these to fall victim to his wrath was a woman meaning the gate. She was splattered against the wall by the gate being smashed inward and colliding with her. Another Faunus started shooting at him, but to no avail. He sprinted at the man before grabbing him and throwing him over his shoulder, making the man hit the ground on his back hard. He then stopped and slammed his ax into the man's chest, killing him instantly. He ripped it out and continued his rampage. After killing three more Faunus, the door to the main area was kicked open. Out stepped a man as tall of Forn, a mask different from the others and wielding a massive chainsaw sword.

"So, you're the human that's been causing me issues."

"I'll send you to Hel!" Forn roared, before charging the man. They dueled, the commander dodging or blocking all of Forn's attacks. But Forn was relentless in his assault, and continued fighting even past when he should've been tired. Eventually, the commander landed a hard punch on Forn's abdomen, sending him flying into a nearby wall and crashing through it. He thought he'd beaten him, but continued watching the dust for a while. After a minute, he heard a growl, before a massive creature came barreling out of the cloud and tackled him to the ground. It looked like a huge Beowolf, but without the bone armor and coloured like a regular wolf. The monster went to bite his throat, but he blocked it with his sword arm.

He continued biting into his arm and thrashing his head about, all while snarling and growling ferociously. He tried punching it off of him but he wouldn't let go, he dropped his chainsaw and grabbed it with his other hand, then went to stab it in the eye, but it just bounced off its hide. Eventually his Aura broke, and he started screaming in pain as his arm was shredded by its sharp teeth.

When his arm was nothing more than a bloody pulp, the beast went for his throat, and successfully bit it this time. His screams of pain turned to gurgles as his throat was ripped out and eaten by this beast. It then stood up and turned to the remaining White Fang, its muzzle dripping with blood. It let out a terrifying roar and ran on all fours towards the Faunus. It tore them to shreds, then feasted on their corpses. When all was said and done, Forn turned back into his human form and began the trek back to his home.

He looked around, and it seemed the Huntresses had left. Probably couldn't handle watching the slaughter. But as he was walking through the snowy forest, he felt a buzz in his pocket. He remembered his Scroll. Each of the Immortals had a modified one, but they only used them to communicate between each other during emergencies.

He checked the notification, and saw it was from William. It was in Latin, which meant he didn't want to risk anyone knowing what it said. They had taught each other their native languages years ago, so they could communicate in secret.

" _The Tomb of Death has been stolen."_ It read. Forn scowled. First these White Fang assholes, and now Mors was out? Maybe he'd need to call some old friends and see if they'd be willing to help.

" _Do you know where the damned thing is?"_ He responded in Scandinavian.

" _It was stolen by a Faunus terrorist group called the White Fang."_ Forn's scowl deepened. These dumbasses have no idea what they took, and now Remnant is going to suffer because of it.

" _I was recently tracked down by some Huntresses and asked to join them. I said no, then these White Fang bastards attacked. I killed them, and just finished taking down one of their bases."_

" _Then it would seem we are being targeted, because the same thing happened to me just a few hours ago. I declined the Huntsman's proposition. I am currently on my way to the White Fang base to talk with their leader, a woman by the name of Sienna Khan."_

Then Yato responded to this, which surprised Forn. " _I have been in this situation as well. A Huntsman completed my challenge, and shortly after these White Fang attacked. The Huntsman asked me to kill a woman by the name of Cinder Fall."_

" _One of Salem's people?"_ Forn asked.

" _Yes."_ Yato answered.

" _Then what should we do? We can't let these attacks go unpunished."_ Forn wanted to take the head of this Sienna Khan as a trophy, but William stopped him.

" _I will talk to the White Fang leader, while you two seek out the other two. See if you can convince them to aid us."_ That shocked him. He wanted them to find the other two?

" _They aren't even fully immortal like us. Not to mention, one has a family, and the other renounced violence millenia ago. How can you expect us to convince them to help us?"_ Forn responded. This was insane.

" _You have to try. I am nearing the White Fang base now, I will inform you of the outcome."_ And with that, William disconnected, leaving Forn and Yato to search for the others.

"I guess I have an old friend to visit after all." he said with a heavy sigh.


	5. We Are Legion

Yato was a little annoyed by this turn of events, but he was accepting of it. Since William was currently hunting down Mors, it was up to him and Forn to track down the last two of the Immortals. Although the two are not truly immortal, their armor is capable of withstanding any blow without damage, and they cannot die of natural causes, not to mention their immense power when compared to Yato, Forn and William. Unfortunately, Yato didn’t have high hopes for convincing the first to rejoin them, as he had settled down to start a family years ago. Jaune and their group weren’t happy about the change of plans, but William was far more important than any of them could ever hope to be, and he told them as such. They responded by leaving his company to hunt Cinder down themselves, a choice he didn’t object to.

Yato always kept some regular civilian clothes at his temple so he would look normal if he ever had to leave for any reason. This proved useful, as he blended right in with the people walking around the Atlesian town he was in, he didn’t care to learn the name. To draw less attention he had sent his ax and armor to the spirit realm, ready to be summoned should he need it. He would feel bad for Forn’s lack of the ability to banish his equipment like Yato and William, if Forn actually cared about blending in.

He approached an inconspicuous house at the end of a street. It was the regular Atlesian white and looked the exact same as all the other houses there. But Yato knew better. He walked up the steps and knocked on the door. After a moment, the door opened and he was greeted by a young man who looked like he had been in the middle of exercising.

“Can I help you?” He asked, a small amount of wariness in his tone.

“Is your father home?” Yato responded, his voice neutral.

“Father!” The man called behind him, but not letting his eyes off Yato. “There’s someone here for you!”

At the end of the hall he could see, another man, this one a fair bit larger than the young man, walked around the corner while wiping his face with a towelette.

“If this is about defending the town again, I swear-” He was cut off when he lowered the cloth and saw who it was. He was shirtless, and the definition of “ripped”, as a soldier of his caliber should be. He had messy black hair and a medium length beard. His fiery red eyes met Yato’s green, and he smiled. He was Leonidas, the Centurion.

“Yato, old friend!” He shouted happily with a hearty laugh, grabbing the Yato’s outstretched hand in a strong handshake. “I haven’t seen you in ages. Come in, come in, I’ll grab some beer.”

“Thank you.” Yato said with a small smile. The only people he felt comfortable around were his fellow Immortals, Leonidas especially. He saw the man as a brother. He entered the house with Leonidas's son leaving to a different room. He entered the living room. There were a few paintings along the walls, each one depicting Leonidas in his armor doing battle with various Grimm, ranging from packs of Beowolves to even a Nuckelavee. In the center of the opposite wall there was a large fireplace with a sword placed above it. It was a gladius, but not the one Leonidas used, it was simply decoration. He doubted it was even sharpened. And above that was a large flat screen T.V. That surprised Yato, as he hadn’t pegged the warrior as the type of guy to sit down and just watch something.

He sat down on the couch opposite the fireplace. It was very comfortable. He wondered where Leonidas got the money to afford these luxuries. As he mused to himself, the man in question walked in with two glass bottles, freshly opened.

“Good old classic beer.” He said with a smile. He handed one to Yato before sitting down next to him.

“Gods above, I haven’t seen you or the others in ages.” He took a swig of beer. “How have things been with your temple? Anyone prove themselves worthy.”

“I’ve been surprised. Ever since some people set up a village at the base of my mountain, there have been next to no intruders. It has been nice to not be accosted by young warriors with inflated egos.” He stared into the bottle, watching the carbonation. Leonidas looked at him worriedly.

“I take it this isn’t a social visit?” He said, dropping his smile.

“No. A couple weeks ago, William sent out an emergency message.”

Leonidas snarled. “You still have the ‘gifts’ from that old bastard?”

Yato had forgotten just how much the old warrior hated Ozma, though it wasn’t unfounded. When Ozma had discovered Leonidas’s “semblance”, he had tried to manipulate him and exploit it. That mistake had cost the wizard his next three hosts before the others were able to calm him down.

“The only reason we keep them is so we can keep in contact.” He responded with a snort.

“Anyway, what was the message about?”

He turned to look at him. “Someone broke into his church while Ashfeld was under attack by White Fang and stole Mors’s coffin.” He said, not beating around the bush at all. Leonidas’s eyes went wide and he almost dropped his drink.

“Who would know about his location other than his insane children?” He asked incredulously.

“I cannot answer that. We believe they may have been working with the White Fang, as both I and Forn have been attacked by White Fang. I would not be surprised if you and Friour got attacked soon as well.”

Leonidas chuckled somberly before standing up from his seat. “Well, in that case, how do you feel about a preemptive attack?”

Confused, Yato inquired about the meaning. “I was under the impression you renounced violence.”

With that, Leonidas burst out laughing. “That would be Friour. Who do you think trains the soldiers around here?”

Yato nodded in agreement, but when he went to stand as well, Leonidas stopped him.

“Stay here. I will return in a moment.” Yato sat back down and continued sipping out of his drink.

Leonidas left the room and walked down the hallway into his bedroom. It was fairly large, with a king-sized bed taking up the far end of the room. Contrary to what most people believed, he had never had a wife. His son, Maximus, was adopted, but he would tell him that when he asked.

He walked over to his nightstand and opened the drawer. Inside was a small key, which he picked up. Next, he kneeled on the bed, just in front of the headboard. He looked down the crack between the bed and the wall, and spotted what he was looking for. A keyhole. He reached down and jammed the key into the hole. The flooring moved to the side, taking the bed with it. Looking to the side revealed a stone staircase leading straight down. He climbed off the bed and descended the staircase. As he descended, the concrete foundation was replaced with rough stone walls lined with unlit torches. It was damp and cold, but that was fixed by summoning some flame to his hand and lighting the torches as he passed. Eventually, he exited the staircase and entered a small, circular room with a flat back wall. Embedded in the wall were two rectangular cases, one small and horizontal, the other large and vertical.

He grabbed the edge of the large one and pulled the lid off, sending it crashing to the ground, shattering on impact. Inside was his Centurion armor, of the Creta build.Dark metal and an even darker cape complemented the gold highlights, and after donning it, not a single inch of skin was visible. The second, smaller case was to the left of the armor case. He opened it, and inside was his Gladius, the Burning Forge. Its white steel with red patterns gave the appearance of flame. He picked it up and gave it a few twirls, even flipping it in the air and catching it seamlessly by the handle proved he wasn’t rusty in the slightest.

He turned, his blackened cape flourishing as he did so, and ascended the stairs. He had sworn to only ever don his armor in the event of an emergency, and Mors’s escape certainly counted as one. He reentered the living room, only to find Yato in his armor, sharpening his ax. He looked up, his mask giving no emotion. 

“So, you knew what I was up to?” He asked with a laugh. He sounded more boisterous now that he was in what was essentially his second skin.

Yato nodded. “As soon as I heard the floor moving.” He stood up and held his ax lazily. “I am assuming there are White Fang near the town already?”

Leonidas began walking towards the front door, nodding and beckoning for him to follow. “Indeed there are. My “scouts” spotted a few setting up camp. Unfortunately, they're campsite is right on top of the Well, and they have it walled off like they’re studying it.” They exited the house and began walking down the street towards the nearest exit. As they did, they got many looks from people. Some were with fear, while others were with awe. A police officer tried to stop them, but one stern look from Leonidas had him backing down.

“How many are there?” Yato asked, listening to the souls of those who had been wronged by the White Fang roar for vengeance. Leonidas merely chuckled.

“About a dozen, but does that really matter?” Yato nodded in agreement. They reached the gate, and all Leonidas had to do was take off his helmet. The guard immediately recognized him, and wordlessly opened the gate.

After only a few minutes of walking through the forest, the crunch of the snow under their feet being the only sound they heard, they could see the camp. Considering it was so close, Yato was surprised the town guard hadn’t gone and destroyed it. Leonidas was especially concerned. He would have to do an investigation the next chance he got. As they neared, one of the perimeter guards spotted them and started laughing.

“What, did you cosplayers get lost or something?” He said, not intimidating in the least. Leonidas responded by breaking into a sprint and throwing his Gladius at the man, nailing him straight through the heart. He was dead before he hit the ground. Yato, wanting to see how Leonidas would handle himself, stood back and let him have his fun.

As the Centurion got closer to the camp by the second, smoke and embers started to seep from the gaps in his armor, giving him an ethereal presence. The other White Fang opened fire after seeing what had become of their friend, but their bullets merely bounced off his Roman armor. He reached his first victim’s corpse and yanked the Gladius out of his chest as he passed, the blade immediately following its master’s suit by producing smoke and embers.

He leapt at another man busy reloading his rifle, holding his Gladius in a reverse grip and plunged it into his neck, burning the surrounding area and leaving him bleeding out on the ground. The next ditched her rifle and instead pulled out a short sword not much longer than Leonidas’s blade. This woman appeared to be skilled in its use, as she blocked the Centurion’s stab. He then attempted to slash her neck, which she ducked under adeptly. She retaliated with an upward stab of her own, but he batted it to the side with his forearm guard before backing up again.

“Infigo, your skills are surprising, and impressive.” He said with a twirl of his blade. “You would’ve made a fine defender of justice.”

“‘Justice’ can eat my ass.” She retorted with a smirk. Oh, he liked this girl’s fire, but it was a shame he would have to snuff that fire out.

He began throwing random slashes and jabs at her, with her blocking each one with practiced ease, but leaving her with no room to retaliate. Her allies wanted to help her, but none of them were skilled in melee combat, and they didn’t want to shoot for risk of hitting her. To onlookers, it looked like Leonidas was simply attacking with wild abandon, but in truth, he was probing her defense for weaknesses, while also wearing her down.

Once he saw some sweat appear on her brow, he went into a right stab, but he intentionally missed. Using the distraction, he grabbed her shoulder with his left hand and used the leverage to knee her in the gut, the armor adding more kick. She doubled over in pain, and when she looked up, she was met by an armored fist smashing into her face, shattering her mask and turning her nose into bloody paste. She was thrown onto her back, and before she could recover, he leapt into the air, holding his sword in a reverse grip with both hands and plunging it into her heart. She clutched at the sword handle, gasping for breath.

“You fought well.” He praised, kneeling beside her and grabbing his Galdius’s handle. He didn’t sound tired in the slightest. She gave him a glare filled with hatred. Defiant, even in death. “But not good enough.” He finalized before withdrawing his sword from her chest, rising to his feet, ending her.

“Et aliorum hominum similis?!” He yelled as he turned around with his arms outstretched, challenging everyone who remained. But that turned out to be nobody, as he was met with an empty field and Yato resting on his ax, clapping slowly.

“Dammit Yato, I was hoping for an exhilarating fight.” He complained, his voice dripping with disappointment.

“I saw you were enjoying yourself with that girl, and decided to put a few souls to rest.” He explained, getting up and picking up his ax.

“Hmph, fair enough.”

They both walked to the center of the camp, surrounded by white tents with that all too familiar logo painted on them. There were no bodies aside from the three Leonidas slew, but that was typical of the spirits Yato commanded. They would always drag those that wronged them back to the spirit realm to torment them until they had their fill. When they reached the center of the camp, they found what they were originally looking for. In the center, surrounded by a safety fence, was a pit of flaming magma the size of Leonidas’s house. The only reason it was strange, was because it was in the middle of a snowy forest. It bubbled and smoked, but nothing aside from the smoke and ashes ever left the radius of the pit. The hot stuff stayed contained to it.

“What are you planning to do?” Yato asked, already knowing the answer to that question.

“You told me the White Fang are working with Mors’s children to free him from imprisonment.” He announced, standing over the Well and staring into it. “That is a crime that I cannot ignore, whether or not William approves.”

“William is already speaking with Sienna Khan peacefully in an attempt to discover where they took the coffin. I doubt he would be happy if you interrupted him.” Yato tried to talk him down, but it was ultimately useless.

“The White Fang are a bunch of fanatics and terrorists. They will never listen to reason. And besides, knowing him, he should have gotten the location by now. They must be cut off at the source.” And with those final words, he held his arms wide, and plunged into the pit.

The pit stopped bubbling all together, but within ten seconds, a large clawed hand covered in flowing magma burst from the lava, three times the size of Yato, followed by another, similarly clawed, hand. The claws dug into the frozen earth, thawing it and setting it alight. They were used to pull the rest of the being into the air. First came the head, which was utterly featureless aside from the orange, glowing eyes that burned with raw power. The ground seemed to shake as he rose. His torso held the toned physique his human form held, as did his arms and legs, but his legs ended with flaming claws instead of feet. He stood at his full height, taller than any other creature that walked Remnant.

He turned back to the pit and plunged his hand into it, pulling out a massive curved Gladius wreathed in holy flame and forged of blackened steel. He then stabbed the ground with this blade, and a series of flaming portals appeared around him. From them emerged his soldiers, demons of righteousness, more specifically his aerial units. The Fallen. They were large winged beasts with massive curved horns the size of Alpha Ursa. They wielded razor sharp claws and talons, along with teeth wicked enough to strip the flesh from any creature, covered in a tough ash-gray hide and wings the size of trucks. Leonidas turned to a specific direction, as if he knew where the White Fang hideout was. He pointed in that direction with his blade, and a pair of flaming, bat-like wings sprouted from his shoulder blades.

**“Onward.”** He uttered, then took to the skies, along with his soldiers, the air upon takeoff strong enough to bend trees, but leaving Yato completely unfazed. He stood there, looking up at the large flying force, then pulled out his Scroll, sending William a single message.

_ “Leonidas and his Fallen are on a warpath to Khan. They will not be taking prisoners.”  _ After a few seconds, he got a response.

_ “Good. I already got what I wanted. Was about to execute her myself, but facing the Demon King’s wrath is a far more suitable punishment.” _

With that, William disconnected, and Yato was left by himself. With nothing else to do, he figured he’d hunt down Cinder Fall and put many souls to rest with her death. May whatever god exists here have mercy on Sienna’s soul, because Leonidas won’t show any.


	6. Eviction

Winter Schnee exited the police station after speaking with the police chief of the town she was in, a small pocket of civilization called Black Stone. She had come here on orders from General Ironwood to apprehend a man who could aid Atlas a great amount. She had also learned a lot in the past few hours, as Ironwood had spoken to her about the message Ozpin had sent out after his death. She was amazed by the prospect of warriors that couldn’t die and possessed powerful Semblances. He had originally only known about three Immortals, a beast of a man residing deep in the Atlesian forest by the name of Forn, a ghostly warrior living on the peek of the Mountain of Souls named Yato, and finally a kind-hearted priest living in the equally small town of Ashfeld named William Ignis.

But Ironwood had recently discovered that Ozpin had an archive filled with information on them. And it turns out that these three were known as Alpha Immortals. There were two final ones, Beta Immortals, who, while not being fully immortal like their brothers-in-arms, were in possession of far more powerful Semblances. The first was Leonidas, a strong soldier and commander living in Atlas with the ability to transform into a so-called “Dark Lord” and command legions of demons. He had gone rogue, however, so Winter was currently tracking the second one, Friour, so she could bring him to Ironwood for questioning and, hopefully, recruitment. What was strange was the lack of information on this man, at least when compared to the others. There was a name, face and location, but nothing on his Semblance or current situation.

She walked through streets with purpose, a squad of Knights behind her. The police chief had been reluctant to tell her anything about him, but eventually relented and told her that he recently started frequenting the local tavern, the Snake’s Bite. He had also told her not to approach him, as he’d been going through some “rough times”, though he wouldn’t elaborate. It also seemed that everyone in the town knew about the Immortal, though the chief continually denied it until she presented him with evidence proving she already knew. And she approached the tavern, she was surprised to see people actively ignoring her, almost like they didn’t want her there at all.

She ordered the droids to wait outside while she entered the bar, and she walked inside. The place was of medium size, and had many patrons, though was surprisingly quiet. The bar was at the back, with multiple tables strewn throughout the main floor. There were also multiple speakers set up along the walls, but each one had an “Out Of Order” sign on them. Just like the civilians outside, the patrons all ignored her. She scanned the bar and saw her target, a beefy man at the end by himself, holding a mug of beer. He had shaggy black hair and a short beard, and was dressed in a flannel shirt and sweatpants. He was slumped over his drink, staring into it with a sad expression. She strode up to him, making her presence known.

“Mr. Friour, I am Commander Schnee of the Atlas Forces, and I need you to come with me.” She said with conviction. The bar went silent, and she could feel everyone’s eyes on her. Friour simply sighed and shook his head slightly.

“Please, just leave me be.” He said, his voice soaked with sadness. She ignored it and pushed forward, grabbing him by the forearm.

“I will not say it again, you are to come with me so I can bring you General Ironwood in the Capital.” She said more aggressively.

He ignored her and took a swig from his mug. She was about to cuff him when someone knocked on the bar top, garnering her attention. The bar keeper, a snake Faunus if the eyes were anything to go by, surprisingly, was giving her a dirty look.

“You need to leave. Now.” He said to her harshly.

“I am here on military business, and will not leave unless it’s with Mr. Friour, one way or another.” She retorted. All he did was scoff at her.

Before they could continue, Friour downed the rest of his drink in one go and slammed the mug into the bar, causing it to crack. He glared at her with anger in his eyes, and this was when she remembered this wasn’t a typical thug she was dealing with.

“I know your kind, lass.” He said. Now that his voice was clear, she could hear a thick accent.. “You strut and prance around like you own the place all because of your bloody title.” He stood up, one hand on the counter, and she realized just how large he was. The file on him didn’t have an exact height, but he had to be bigger than even General Ironwood. He stared at her with even more hate, but she refused to back down, placing her hand on her weapon.

“Do you know how long it’s been since one of you pompous cunts has shown your pretty wee face around here?” She froze for a second, but Friour interrupted her before she could answer. “50! For 50 fucking years we’ve been scrapping by on our own, without so much as a letter from you bastards!” He got closer, and she found herself taking an involuntary step back. Electricity began to crackle from his hands, but he was stopped when one of the other patrons, another muscle man, placed his hand on his shoulder, garnering his attention.

“It’s not worth it, don’t let her get to you.” He said, trying to be diplomatic. Friour tightened his fists for a moment before releasing them, stopping the flow of electricity.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He apologized, his anger once again being replaced by sadness. He walked out of the tavern, but when Winter tried to follow, the man stepped in her way.

“Unless you want to turn into a human lightning pole, I wouldn’t push it with him. He’s already lost his daughter, and he won’t tolerate another round of bullshit from you.” It took her three minutes to push past the crowd of angry people blocking her path, but when she’d finally gotten out, he was already gone. The huffed angrily before noticing her Knights were scattered along the snowy ground, all looking like they’d had their circuits fried.

**Meanwhile, with a certain dark mistress**

Salem was becoming stressed. Nearly all of the Immortals were becoming active in some way, and this worried her. Ignis had slain the former leader of the White Fang, along with everyone else in the building at the time, and she hasn’t been able to figure out what caused this. They had come to an agreement that she would leave Ashfeld alone so long as he left her alone. Sure, he would occasionally decapitate any war mongers he came across, but that was just his nature. Sienna, on the other hand, hadn’t become a real threat to him yet. No, there had to be another reason. Hell, even Forn and Yato had become active. Yato hadn’t really done much thus far, but Forn was tearing apart White Fang bases left and right.

She had called her circle together and decided to inform them on who and what the Immortals were, barring a certain monster imprisoned by Ignis, and about the tense peace treaty they’d had, and the reactions were mixed. Hazel and Cinder understood the danger they posed and agreed to stay away from them, Arthur proposed they try to imprison them in some way, and Tyrian still thought he could kill them if he tried hard enough. All these conflicting opinions caused an argument to break out. She was about to get them to stop, but they stopped when the doors to the hall suddenly opened.

Two figures emerged from the other side, and no one had ever seen them before. One was a short woman who looked more like an assassin, and the other was a brute of a man in heavy iron armor. The pair stood side by side the door like royal guards, stock still. The circle stood there, surprised that these two people just seemingly appeared in their castle, but then they heard a third set of footsteps approaching. These were slow, heavy and methodical, like they had all the time in the world to do whatever they wanted. And then he rounded the corner, and Salem’s blood went cold. There, in all his dark glory, was Mors, the Father of Darkness, but his sword and shield were noticeably absent.

“Hello again, my dear love.” He greeted her in that chilling whisper as he continued forward. As soon as he spoke, Tyrian lept towards him, wrist blades extended, intending to kill the intruder. Little did he know,  _ they  _ were the intruders. The blades bounced off his hood, and during Tyrian’s moment of shock, Mors summoned his sword and plunged the blade through the mad man’s skull, killing him instantly. His free hand became wreathed in shadowy claws and he swiped at his neck, removing the head from the shoulders. He examined it for a moment before swinging his blade to the side, launching it into the wall. He banished the claws, but kept his blade.

“You did not tell me you were having guests.” He stared at each of them, even his eyes hidden by unnatural shadows. They were all silent as their clear superior moved slowly across the hall, examining them all with an ancient eye. They each tried their best not to garner his attention, especially after he had so easily slain one of their own, but one of them failed to do so. He stopped right next to Cinder, staring into her eye with his dead black pits for a moment before continuing on. Salem was at a loss for words as her second husband approached her throne. She felt the urge to run, but knew it would be futile. He suddenly grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air, his cold hands digging into her flesh. She grabbed at his arm out of instinct, but he didn’t even budge, even as the others stood up and drew their weapons.

“You left me there.” You said to her, once again just loud enough that everyone could hear. “And you didn’t even recognize your own children when they entered.” He said, gesturing towards the two people that were now known as his children.

“Put her down.” Hazel demanded. He responded by staring him dead in the eyes, and it was enough to get him to back down.

“This was never your home.” He tightened his grip on her throat, causing her to look at him with panic in her eyes, only to find nothing in return. “You are merely a parasite.” He threw her to the side, her body hitting the wall with a hard  _ thump. _ He sat down at the seat and summoned his sword and shield before embedding them in the ground on either side of him. He sat in silence for a moment before speaking once again.

“Which of you are important enough not to kill?”


End file.
